kdogg

iTrader: (3)

Yesterday, I stopped by to pick up a new oil filter for a oil change this weekend. The service tech (maybe manager) told me to make sure I use full synthetic oil and not a synthetic blend. He said the only full synthetic Mobil 1 oil has a blue cap.

OK, I didn't say anything. In my head, I knew the green cap is 10W-30 and the blue cap is 5W-30. When I got home, I used the green cap 10W-30 Mobil 1 for my last oil change. I didn't buy the blue cap 5W-30 because the manual states for 10W-30. The bottle I put in says "Fully Synthetic Oil" which is factory filled in Dodge Viper...

I'm pretty sure I have the right oil. I just want to clear some doubts, and confirm some techs are just idiots. Any comments?

EDIT: Found my answer below...
http://www.mobil1.com/products/trisynth/faq.jsp

fimotorsports

iTrader: (92)

Mobil 1 is full synthetic, the tech was referring to the blue cap as 5-30 Mobil 1

evo81

iTrader: (30)

that's the right one.green cap

YellowFever

iTrader: (24)

they are both fully synthetic

ACM

This is an interesting question.
Since Castrol won the lawsuit about being able to call re-refined dino juice "synthetic", there have been quite a few changes in oil specs. Note the wording on that Mobil 1 site. What's significant is that Mobil no longer state that Mobil 1 is formulated entirely from PAOs excluding additive carrier, it's now PAOs and "other" fluids.

Note also that the pour and flash points - 2 dead giveaways of pure synthetic vs none - have changed on the new Mobil 1, and changed in the wrong way. The pour point has risen and the flash point has dropped, and significantly too. This makes me wonder if Mobil has taken advantage of the ruling and substituted cheaper, dino-based, fluids.

Mobil 1 and Amsoil used to have specs that were pretty similar, fairly close to each other. Go check out the Amsoil website now, and see where Mobil 1 ends up - it looks more like a semi-synthetic blend that anything else.

Charles - no connection to Amsoil, and still using Mobil 1 himself.

GOKOU

iTrader: (2)

Should be good to go. I can't believe dealer and some other shops charge $65 for a synthetic oil change

evo81

iTrader: (30)

i hear ya. it's too easy not to do it yourself.

Bogie

iTrader: (11)

I've been hearing a lot about that ruling; I also read the same thing at hpoa.org a month or so ago. I have been steering clear of Mobil 1 since my second oil change (15k miles now). Frankly, I don't use Mobil 1 because of what I read but because I noticed that in my '93 300ZXTT I was adding more oil at the track when I was using Mobil 1. That means I was burning oil, and that may mean Mobil 1 may use a conventional basestock.

If Mobil is a semi-synthetic, all those people who would prefer to run a conventional motor oil during engine break-in may not need to be concerned anymore

Satori

I've been worried Mobile was going to do that ever since that ruling. I guess in the end staying competitive has to kick in and the end users gets the shaft.

I’ll never understand why the courts dropped the ball on this case. “Fully” means 100%, not “it has some synthetics yet still a little petroleum.” Any five-year-old can figure that out.

I guess that says something about out justice system.